Hope for Health Care Proposal

There may be hope for an ambitious proposal by California officials to expand health care coverage. In his
weekly radio address on Saturday, President Bush said he will direct administration officials to adopt new rules that make it easier for states to alter their health
programs for the poor.

California´s plan would expand coverage to more than 300-thousand low-income parents and children.

It has been
stalled for seven months while awaiting federal approval of a special waiver. State officials expressed hope that it is precisely the type of program Bush wants to
break loose from a sluggish bureaucracy.